Shanghai is one of the most popular and known cities in China. Its towering sky-scrappers light the evening skies.
I spent 2 days in Shanghai in May 2019 to see as many new sights as possible. Living in Ningbo, I could take the speedrail to Shanghai taking just 2 hours. From the train station I took Metro line 2 away from Hongqiao Railway, then to YuYuan Gardens. My hotel was a short walk away from Line 10 and was relatively low cost. From the hotel I could take a 5 minute walk to the Bund.
Day 1
I started by taking a walk along the Bund, I lived life as a typical tourist by photographing my way along the Bund! Eventually I came across the Under Water Tunnel that led across to the Oriental Pearl Tower. I would highly recommend doing this as you can get a return ticket for the train plus an entrance ticket to one of the towers, I chose the Shanghai Tower, in total the ticket cost 110RMB (£11). As I had opted to use the underwater tunnel in the afternoon, I found myself unwilling to use my Shanghai Tower ticket until the evening, so I found the Line 2 subway and travelled back to People’s Square.
In People’s Square, I stumbled across a mall with very few places open inside. It appeared to be a food mall so I found the only one with people inside (4th floor). I’d been told repeatedly that Shanghai was very expensive, but this restaurant cost me 30RMB (£3) for a starter, pizza, side and a wine!
After wandering around People’s Square and East Nanjing Road, I popped into the hotel, quick change, and back out to the Bund. By now it was getting darker and the lights had began to come on! (This essentially is the whole reason I wanted to see Shanghai).
Because I had already used my Underwater Tunnel ticket one way, I did have to take Line 2 Subway back over to the Pearl Tower side of the Bund. Jumping on at East Nanjing Road is easy, its just a 20 minute walk away from the hotel. Lujiazui is the closest Metro Line to the Pearl tower. After reaching the opposite side of the Bund, I walked past the Disney store and relied completely on my Apple Maps to lead the way to the Shanghai World Financial Tower.
I visited Shanghai on a Monday, so as I went inside the Financial Tower (‘Bottle Opener’) it was quite empty.
With the ticket I had, I could visit all 3 floors available (94, 97 and 100). Each floor offered amazing views. I chose this building as I wanted photos with the Oriental Pearl Tower in my photos, if I went back, I would visit the inside of a different tower. I’ve heard that the food inside the Pearl is amazing!
After my visit to the tower I headed back to the Tunnel and returned to my side of The Bund. Walking back along the Bund in the evening, I was able to gain some incredibly tourist images of the night lights.
Day 2
I opted for a quieter day today, I visited YuYuan Gardens (30RMB entrance fee) and YuYuan Bazaar surrounding the Gardens. This area is absolutely breath-taking, the small stores around have completely different items for sale, it’s difficult to choose 1 or 2 items.
I also walked over to Jade Temple, this was included in all of the guides as a MUST-SEE. But, at 50RMB entry, I chose to just look at the outside and walk away. I guess my ability to see temples all around China made this decision.
Next, I headed to People’s Square to visit Shanghai Museum. This is a great place to visit to understand more about China (and Shanghai) in general, plus each area has English and Chinese resources available. This place is completely free! Note – Shanghai Museum is closed on Mondays.
Finally, I jumped back on the Subway Line towards TianZiFang. TianZiFang is a series of tiny streets filled with fabulous little shops and food treats, completely worth a visit and a squeeze through with all of the other tourists and Chinese visitors.
Unfortunately, I had to leave Shanghai later that evening. However, I did return to Shanghai a few months later and I was able to collect these stunning images. My second visit was just after Spring Festival in 2020, this allowed me to see a quiet city of Shanghai and the Red decorations used in many places for the festival.
Shanghai is a place I would happily visit over and over again, although I could never imagine living there. For me, places in Shanghai that I would like to see more of are:
Disneyland Shanghai
TeamLab – Borderless Exhibition
Zhujiajiao -Water Town
Tianzifang
French Concession
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